Harvesting wheat straw on a Bucks County Mennonite farm, Photo: Mennonite Heritage Center Collection

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1 ISSN Volume 19 No. 3, Fall 2016 Harvesting wheat straw on a Bucks County Mennonite farm, Photo: Mennonite Heritage Center Collection The Mennonite Heritage Center holds artifacts and archival collections on a range of topics pertaining to Mennonite faith and life in southeastern Pennsylvania, including farm life in the area. You are welcome to visit the Heritage Center to view photographs of early to mid twentieth century farming and research books, manuscript collections and audio recordings related to area agriculture. Historical library hours are Tuesday through Friday, 10 am to 5 pm and Saturday from 10 am to 2 pm. Our online catalog at mhep.org/librarycollections/ provides information on available resources on this topic and other subjects.

2 MENNONITE HERITAGE CENTER Board of Trustees Christopher J. Detweiler, President John L. Ruth, Vice President J. Oliver Gingrich, Secretary Natasha J. Alderfer, Treasurer Kathy Q. Bauman Gerald A. Benner Jeffrey L. Godshall Jeffrey T. Hackman S. Duane Kauffman Andrew S. Lapp Edie J. Landis Donald L. Nice D. Eugene Wampler In This Issue Farming Memories p. 3 Apple Butter Frolic p. 4 Amish and Mennonite Interrelationships in the Chester Valley by Duane Kauffman p. 5 Highlights of Recent Acquisitions p.10 Traditional Arts Workshops p.11 You are invited p.12 Trustee Emeriti Ray K. Hacker Mary Jane Lederach Hershey Staff Joel D. Alderfer, Collections Manager Ivan L. Derstine, Custodian Steven P. Diehl, Director of Advancement Sarah W. Heffner, Director Timothy L. Kennel, Volunteer Coordinator Forrest L. Moyer, Archivist Rose A. Moyer, Assistant Director Editorial Staff Sarah W. Heffner, Editor Joel D. Alderfer, Contributing Editor Forrest L. Moyer, Contributing Editor The MHC Quarterly is published four times per year Mennonite Heritage Center 565 Yoder Road Harleysville, PA Telephone: FAX: info@mhep.org Web: Museum & Library Hours Tuesday - Friday 10 am to 5 pm Saturday, 10 am to 2 pm The mission of the Mennonite Historians of Eastern Pennsylvania is to collect, preserve, and interpret the Anabaptist- Mennonite heritage in order to educate, inspire, and witness to the church and broader community. Wednesday, October 26. Heritage of the Pine Barrens Bus Tour - On our tour of Pine Barren Native Fruits, a working cranberry and blueberry farm, we will learn about the history of the cranberry, the White, Darlington and Fenwick families, as well as witness an authentic cranberry harvest on a special guided bus tour of a cranberry bog. In addition we will enjoy a "taste testing" of cranberry and blueberry products, a cooking class and sharing of recipes by Pine Barrens Native Fruits. The Pine Barrens is also home to the Historic Village of Batsto, our afternoon tour stop. Batsto was founded in 1766 as an ironmaking town. We will have a walking tour of the village. Several options include a 45 minute tour of the mansion, visiting the various buildings, going to the nature center or spending time in the museum. Harry Anselmo is tour leader. The tour cost of $95 ($90 member) includes all admission fees, gratuities and a box lunch. For full tour information and to register, go to or call MHC Quarterly Volume 19 No. 3, Fall

3 Farming Memories A scene from the potato harvest on the J. Wallace Moyer farm, near the village of Blooming Glen, Bucks County, Credit: Mennonite Heritage Center Collection. The Annual Apple Butter Frolic on the first Saturday in October celebrates the farming, food and crafts traditions of this southeastern Pennsylvania region. Joel Alderfer, Collections Manager, assembles volunteers who work at corn fodder cutting, wheat threshing and other farming demonstrations to give visitors a sampling of the type of work involved in a farming operation. The majority of Frolic-goers have no experience in farming but are interested in the heritage of the region and connect with the past for a few hours here on our campus. The region was primarily rural until the mid-twentieth century and area Mennonites and their neighbors knew first hand about the cycle of the seasons and planting, cultivating and harvesting activities. Feeding livestock, unloading hay, picking up potatoes and gathering eggs were routine, but today those chores would be novel activities for most area children. There has been something gained and something lost with the onslaught of the suburbs and the inclusion of Mennonites and other groups in the surrounding culture. Academic education and other professions became possibilities along with wider travel and exposure to world cultures. But the connection to the land and appreciation for God s creation have dimmed as life is now lived with one foot in reality and the other in a digital world. The work of the Mennonite Heritage Center staff is increasingly in both the real and digital worlds. By having our collections available on the web, we are able to share faith and culture with many more people. With programs and events like the Apple Butter Frolic, we hope to connect with the wider community in a real way while also providing information on the internet. See you October 1- I ll probably be found for most of the day in the Grandma s Kitchen demonstration, helping to make a delicious, traditional treat on the wood cook stove! Sarah Heffner Director MHC Quarterly Volume 19 No. 3, Fall

4 Apple Butter Frolic on October 1, 2016! We are planning a full day of fun and frolic for this year s event. Start the day with the hearty pancake and apple sausage breakfast and then stay for traditional crafts, farming demonstrations, wagon rides, great food, programs and fun activities for children. See you there! Pancake and Apple Sausage Breakfast served 7:30-10:30 am Apple Foods Tent Folk Craft Demonstrations Delicious Pa. German Food Children s Activities Horse and Wagon Rides Baking Contest Admission: Adults/Youth $8 Children Ages 6-12 $2 Under 6 Free Please No Pets Parking at Indian Valley Middle School 130 Maple Ave., Harleysville with shuttle to nearby Frolic MHC Quarterly Volume 19 No. 3, Fall

5 Amish and Mennonite Interrelationships in the Chester Valley By Duane Kauffman When the committed followers of Jacob Amman arrived in Philadelphia in the 1730s,they did not become part of the new Mennonite settlements in the Conestoga Valley in Lancaster County or the Skippack region in today s Montgomery County. Instead the Amish moved northwest up the Schuylkill River, bypassing the fertile Perkiomen and Oley Valleys, continuing on to the foot of the Blue Mountain in today s Berks County. 1 There they found space to live in clusters and were not scattered among those with different cultural patterns and religious beliefs. Also, lingering acrimonious sentiments resulting from the schism in Switzerland and the Alsace led to a deliberate choice to avoid, or at least minimize, contact with Mennonites already present. Although these feelings still persisted a century later in the days of the American Revolution and years following, in Pennsylvania s Chester Valley 2 a different pattern emerged. Here a spirit of acceptance and cooperation prevailed as the Amish and Mennonites negotiated land transactions, assisted each other in probate proceedings, intermarried, jointly started a cemetery and together erected a building used for a meetinghouse and a school. By the late 1750s some of the Amish from the mother Berks County settlement had begun migrating west into the upper Tulpehocken Valley in present-day Lebanon County. A decade later a few brave souls began moving west beyond the Appalachians into today s Somerset and Cambria counties. In 1767 several Amish families took a different direction and turned toward Philadelphia to cultivated land and sturdy stone houses in Charlestown, Tredyffrin, and East and West Whiteland townships of the Chester Valley. By the time of the American Revolution three Zug (Zook) and two Kauffman families, along with others bearing the name of Fike, Gnagy (Kanagy), Lapp and Rickenbach, made up the new Amish settlement. In 1800, under the leadership of Michael Lapp and Christian Zug, Jr., the Chester Valley Amish community reached its peak of 24 families with additional names of Fisher, Gerber, King, Kurtz, Miller, Plank, and Riehl. By the 1750s, Mennonites who were part of what became the Franconia Conference had moved into upper Chester County along the Schuylkill River, forming congregations in Coventry and Vincent townships and Phoenixville. The 1790 census for Charlestown Township revealed the names of three Buckwalters, two Pannabeckers (Pennypackers), two Hunsbergers, two Roots (Ruths), two Showalters and two Whislers, along with a Clemens, Hoch (High), Funk, and Halderman. 3 At the same time other Mennonites located in neighboring townships. John Showalter 4 and John and Jacob Tedwiller (Detweiler) were found in Tredyffrin, Henry Souder and Henry Ruth in East Whiteland, Frederick Landis in Easttown, and Rudolph Lapp in Goshen Township. 5 In 1795 a transaction was completed in which Matthias Pennypacker, Jacob Johnson, Christian Whisler, George Clemens, Frederick Landis, Henry Fox, Abraham Whisler, Christian Clemens, and Abraham Holdeman acquired a 40-perch lot in trust for use as a place of worship and burial for the Society of people called Menonists and for no other use forever. 6 A review of Chester County deed records reveals a number of negotiations in which the Amish and Mennonites in the Chester Valley did business with each other. The earliest one found involved Amish miller John Knege of East Whiteland Township, who in February 1774 granted a 999 year lease for a right-of-way to Mennonite neighbor Henry Souder for the token yearly payment of one ear of Indian corn if so demanded for the passing and repassing from the premises and hauling of the hay, corn, or produce. 7 In September 1783 John Fike, then living in the Brothers Valley in Bedford County (now Somerset), sold a 19-acre tract to Mennonite David Histand, a carpenter from Charlestown Township, who sold it the following year to Amish Michael Lapp, farmer from East Whiteland Township, who had been the original joint owner with Amish Christian Fike, father of Bedford County John Fike. In March 1785 John Showalter Sr., Mennonite from Tredyffrin Township, and wife Esther, sold 28 acres from his Tredyffrin Township farm to Amish farmer Jacob Gerber from Cumru Township in Berks County, and negotiated a plan for water rights for his mill and irrigation for meadow watering. In March 1784 Amish Preacher Christian Zug, Jr. obtained 175 acres of woodland on the East Whiteland-Goshen Township border from the estate of William Kelly from London. Zug and his wife Magdalena then proceeded to sell off smaller lots for timber needs to interested buyers. One was Mennonite Henry Souder, who purchased ten acres in April In July 1794, after Amish Christian Fisher and his wife Susannah had moved to Salisbury Township in Lancaster County, he sold his 26-acre East Whiteland tract bordering Susannah s father Henry Souder to Souder s son-in-law Henry Ruth of the same place. On August 4, 1796 Amish land speculator Henry Zook and wife Barbara from East Whiteland sold a ten-acre Charlestown Township lot to Mennonite Elijah Funk of Charlestown Township, and in July 1819 he sold his 181-acre East Whiteland farm to Mennonite Abraham Whisler from the same township. In MHC Quarterly Volume 19 No. 3, Fall

6 Charlestown Mennonite Meetinghouse along Pikeland Road in Charlestown Township, Chester County, in its last days. It was erected in Photo taken ca Credit - Print in the Mennonite Heritage Center Collection April 1812, when Amish Samuel King and wife Catherine of Tredyffrin Township moved to Little Britain Township in Lancaster County, they sold five tracts in Tredyffrin to Mennonite Tredyffrin farmer Jacob Longacre. Chester County probate files give evidence that the Mennonites and Amish of the Chester Valley had a trusting relationship that motivated them to call on each other to serve as witnesses, assessors, and administrators in probate proceedings. In 1773 Christian Fike, an Amish farmer from Charlestown Township, called upon his neighbor Mennonite John Showalter to witness the document, and in 1805 Mennonite bishop Matthias Pennabecker 8 did the same for Adam Rickabaugh an Amish farmer in Tredyffrin Township in Jacob Garber,an Amish farmer in West Pikeland Township, died in 1797 and Mennonite George Clemens was one of the two who appraised his property. Amish neighbors Christian Coffman and John Zug witnessed Goshen Township Mennonite Rudolph Lapp s will in 1800, and in 1824 Amish preacher Christian Zug, Jr. served as an executor for Rudolph s son Henry Lapp s estate in East Whiteland Amish preacher Joseph Kurtz served as an appraiser of Mennonite Henry Souder s East Whiteland estate in 1811, and in Souder s will, Amish preacher Michael Lapp was designated as a person to be called upon if a dispute arose during settlement. In 1815 East Whiteland Mennonite Henry Ruth witnessed Amish preacher Joseph Kurtz s will, and three years later did the same for Amish farmer Jacob Coffman (Kauffman) from East Whiteland. In 1818 East Whiteland Mennonite Henry Ruth witnessed the will of East Whiteland Amish farmer Jacob Coffman (Kauffman). Three years earlier he had done the same for East Whiteland Amish preacher Joseph Kurtz. Mennonite Philip Landis served as an assessor for the same Joseph Kurtz s estate. When Adam Rickabaugh, Amish farmer of Tredyffrin, died in 1823, his will was witnessed by Mennonite neighbors David Ruth and Jacob Beidler. There were also a number of cases of intermarriage between Chester Valley Mennonites and Amish. Three of East Whiteland Amish Jacob Kauffman s children married Mennonites: son John Coffman married Barbara, a daughter of Henry and Mary (Souder) Ruth of East Whiteland: daughter Magdalena married John Oberholtzer 9 : and son Isaac married John Oberholtzer s sister Hannah. Two East Whiteland Amish Fisher brothers chose daughters of Mennonite Henry Souder as marriage partners; Peter marrying Barbara, while Christian took Susannah as his wife. Mary Longacre, daughter of Jacob Longacre of Charlestown Township, was the first wife of Samuel Kurtz, son of MHC Quarterly Volume 19 No. 3, Fall

7 Amish preacher Joseph Kurtz of East Whiteland. In Tredyffrin Township, Amish Adam Rickabaugh s daughter Barbara married a Mennonite neighbor John Detweiler, and Adam s granddaughter Catherine Rickabaugh was the wife of Mennonite George Clemens. 10 In 1784 the Amish and Mennonites in the Chester Valley committed themselves to a significant joint venture. According to a deed record on November 10, 1784 (G2-227), a settlement was reached in which Amish Michael Lapp and wife Mary, for three pounds, sold a 50-perch tract to John Gnagy and John Showalter 11, overseers of the Amist and Menoniest Societies Meeting in trust as a place of burial. No reference was made to any building and it stated specifically that it was for a cemetery. In a 1937 listing of burials in the cemetery along Flat Road, known locally as the Union Cemetery, the only Mennonites included were Jacob Ruth (August 15, 1786-August 3, 1856), his first wife Catherine (July 11, 1791-November 20, 1824), and second wife Ann who died December 17, 1855 at age 69. Although there may have been others interred there earlier, the minimal Mennonite use was because in 1795 they established their own meetinghouse and cemetery three miles away in Charlestown Township. On December 28, 1816 the Amish and Mennonites of the Chester Valley undertook another bold cooperative endeavor. According to deed M3-331, John and Mary Coffman of Charlestown Township for $25.00 sold a 33½perch lot to Jacob Zook of West Whiteland, and John Garber and Abraham Whisler from East Whiteland, trustees of the Aminist Minist and German Baptist 12 societies for the use of the said religious sect all that certain lot or piece of land for the purpose of occupying the same by a house of worship and a school for the use of said societies. Although the literal wording of the deed implies two parties were involved, other sources suggest a comma should have been inserted between the words Aminist and Minist and three, rather than two were part of the agreement. In an 1829 description of an adjacent property (E4-117), it clearly stated excepting a certain lot or piece of ground conveyed by John Coffman to the Ominist, Menonist, and Dutch Baptist Society for use of a meetinghouse and schoolhouse. Also, the May 22, 1821 Articles of Incorporation for the East Whiteland Association for the Care of the Union Meetinghouse and Schoolhouse in its Fifth Article stated, The said organization shall be governed by an equal number of the three societies of professing Christians who hold in trust the Union Meetinghouse and Schoolhouse. Remains of the Union Meetinghouse along Flat Road in East Whiteland Township, Chester County. It was erected in Photo taken Credit - Mennonite Historical Library, Goshen, Indiana MHC Quarterly Volume 19 No. 3, Fall

8 The building was located across Flat Road from the cemetery. Exact details about the building s utilization have not been determined. It is not likely that all three groups met as one body for religious activities. The Mennonites had their own meetinghouse three miles to the north, and it appears the Amish had been meeting in a schoolhouse they had built along Morehall Road several mile east in East Whiteland Township. Perhaps the three took turns using the facility and the primary shared function was providing a setting and educational program for their children. 13 Although the Chester Valley Amish and Mennonite spirit of cooperation and mutual support was commendable, it did not guarantee success. Other challenging forces were at work which ultimately led to the decline and eventual demise of both groups. After thirty years the Chester Valley Amish community began to weaken both numerically and in terms of commitment to their heritage. Some of the early leaders had died and a number of families of a more conservative persuasion had moved to Lancaster County or become part of a new settlement in Mifflin County. It also seems that those of the younger generation were attracted to efforts of the local Baptists to gain new members. In October 1817 immigrant Johannes Nussbaum and family spent a night with the Chester Valley Amish and he recorded that it was a settlement of five Amish families. 14 In the spring of 1834, after the death of his parents Christian and Magdalena Zug, Henry Zook, the last to maintain the traditional Amish expressions, moved from the family farm in East Whiteland to Lampeter Township, Lancaster County. In his analysis of the passing of the Chester Valley Amish settlement, Mennonite sociologist Grant Stoltzfus said There is a strong tradition among today s Amish that urban and worldly influences were strong in this settlement and other faiths and ways penetrated the congregation too greatly for it to hold its own and grow. 15 The Mennonite community in the Chester Valley had a longer existence. In the early 1830s they experienced a resurgence in Charlestown and Tredyffrin townships, which led to the building of a meetinghouse at Diamond Rock along the Yellow Springs Road. However, by the time of the Civil War, this fellowship, as well as the earlier one in Charlestown Township, had ceased to function as viable congregations. In his 1937 History of the Mennonites of the Franconia Conference John C. Wenger, in commenting on the dwindling number of Mennonites west of the Schuylkill, concluded: As a matter of observation it would appear that the weaker the congregation is numerically, the more accentuated must be its separation from the stream of life in the community if its identity is to be maintained. Otherwise it will constantly lose to larger groups. 16 Endnotes 1. There were some exceptions in which some early immigrants who had Amish connections in Europe did settle in Lancaster County. It appears however, that their Amish identity was not maintained. 2. Today better known at the Great Valley. 3. Most of these were living in what is Schuylkill Township today. 4. John was one of four sons of Jacob Schowalter who had arrived with his family on the Brotherhood in 1750 and became an important figure in the Siegfried Mennonite congregation in Northampton County. By 1772 Joseph had migrated to Charlestown Township and Daniel, John, and Felty (Valentine) settled in the township of Tredyffrin. Both Daniel and John served as Mennonite preachers in the Chester Valley. Brothers Joseph and John Showalter died in Chester County, Felty in Franklin County, while Daniel and another brother Ulrich, lived their last days in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. 5. Henry Souder and Rudolph Lapp had moved from Hatfield Township in Montgomery County, Pa. and Henry Ruth came from neighboring New Britain Township in Bucks County. They were later joined by John Oberholtzer, also from Bucks County. 6. See Chester County deed (L2-348). This small fellowship under the leadership of Matthias Pennypacker never reached the status of an autonomous congregation. The meetinghouse was a place for gatherings led by ministers from the Phoenixville congregation. For more information see Charlestown Meetinghouse Re-discovered (July 1989) and Mennonites in the Chester Valley (Nov. 1991) by Joel D. Alderfer in Mennonite Historians of Eastern Pennsylvania Newsletter. MHC Quarterly Volume 19 No. 3, Fall

9 7. This expression Yearly payment of one ear of Indian corn if so demanded was found in several other deed records involving the Chester Valley Amish 8. This was the spelling in his signature. The name often appeared in other forms such as Pennebecker, Pennybecker, and Pennypacker. He was a well-to-do farmer and miller in Charlestown Township who suffered severe property losses during the American Revolution. He was a highly respected Mennonite bishop who served the churches west of the Schuylkill River, including Phoenixville and Charlestown. He was the great-grandfather of Samuel Pennypacker, a noted judge who later served as a progressive governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. 9. This John Oberholtzer has not been identified. It is known that after the death of his wife Magdalena Coffman, he remarried and moved to Juniata County, Pa. where he was an ordained minister in the Lost Creek Mennonite Church. His grave stone in that church cemetery gives the dates Mar. 1, July 24, According to Barbara Ford in The Oberholtzer Book: A Foundation Book of Oberholtzer Immigrants and Unestablished Lines, Morgantown, PA (1995), he was the son of John Oberholtzer from Bucks County, Pa. who moved to East Whiteland Township in The American Republican (West Chester, Pa.) April 3, 1837 carried the announcement of the marriage of George Clemens of Doylestown, Pa. and Catherine, daughter of David and Elizabeth Rickabaugh of Tredyffrin Twp. 11. Although John Showalter was a Mennonite, he did have an Amish connection. His father s brother Christian Showalter served as an Amish bishop in Lancaster County. 12. Although this was the original name of today s Church of the Brethren, in this case it applies to those with a German culture who were part of the Baptist Church. 13. By the 1830s the local Baptists were using the facility exclusively. In 1833 they formed a new congregation known as the East Whiteland Baptist Society and two years later they moved to Willistown Township and became the current First Baptist Church of Malvern. 14. This is significant since it was the year the building often called the first Amish meetinghouse in America was constructed. Recent research reveals it was not strictly Amish, but rather, a union facility. 15. Grant M.Stotzfus, History of the First Amish Communities in America, Mennonite Quarterly Review (October 1954) 16. Wenger, p.208. Author Duane Kauffman has written numerous books, including The Amish of the Chester Valley: A Challenging and Puzzling Venture (2014) and Mifflin County Amish and Mennonite Story (Mifflin County Mennonite Historical Society; 1991). Duane served on the Christopher Dock Mennonite High School faculty for 45 years. He is active at Perkasie Mennonite Church, serves on the MHEP Board of Trustees and is a member of the Franconia and Lancaster Choral Singers. MHC Quarterly Volume 19 No. 3, Fall

10 Highlights from Recent Acquisitions Nine-Patch Block pattern quilt with glazed cotton ( chintz ) fabric border, made by an unknown quilter(s) and, according to family tradition, given as a wedding gift to Henry & Lizzie Godshall Musselman of Franconia and Lower Salford Townships. They were married in Gift of the family of Raymond & Esther Stauffer Musselman. Scrapbook and diary assembled by Alma K. Keyser, secretary for the Brunk Brothers Evangelistic Campaign, Includes numerous photos of various evangelistic campaigns ( tent meetings ) held by the Brunk brothers across the U.S. and Canada, and post cards from their travels. Gift of Eleanor C. Ruth Flow Blue teapot, circa 1870, owned by Susan Godshall Frederick Rosenberger ( ) of Souderton, PA. She married first, in about 1873, Benjamin H. Frederick ( ) of Franconia Township; married second Amos Rosenberger ( ); they lived in Souderton. Susan was a member of the Franconia Mennonite Congregation and is buried there with her first husband. Part of a larger set of dishes, which may have been a wedding gift to Susan. Gift of Dot Benner. MHC Quarterly Volume 19 No. 3, Fall

11 Tradtional Arts Workshops September 24, 9 am to 3 pm. Weaving a Cake/Picnic Basket led by Basket Weaver Karen Wychock. Cake anyone?! This versatile square basket can be used to carry cake to your next birthday party or carry everything you need for your next picnic.measuring 13 x 13 x 8 high with a double set of oak handles, its sturdy enough to carry whatever your social event demands as it is reinforced with oak runners and lashed in beautiful ash.i nstructor Karen promises to bring the cake for the workshop! All tools and materials will be supplied by the instructor. The workshop fee is $55 ($50 member) plus $60 for the materials fee. For more information and to register, go to mhep.org or call Preregistration required. October 8, 9 am to 3pm. Papercutting Workshop led by Artist Pam Hults. The workshop on this traditional folk art that will features paper cutting designs painted with water colors. The class will include several patterns to choose from that include seasonal designs for fall and Christmas along with traditional Pennsylvania German paper cutting designs. Students will take home a finished piece along with a finished grain painted frame provided by the instructor. Workshop fee is $55 ($50 for members) plus a materials fee of $30 that includes the designs and hand painted grained frame. For more information and to register, go to mhep.org or call Preregistration required. October 15, 9 am to 3 pm. Sgraffito Pottery Workshop led by Potter Denise Wilz. The workshop will focus on the sgraffito technique used by area nineteenth century Pennsylvania German potters to make expressive designs in their folk art pottery. Sgraffito means to scratch and workshop participants will draw a design of their choosing in a damp clay coating on a redware plate. The instructor will provide molded redware plates coated with the clay slip and the sgraffito tools. After the class, the plates will be glazed and fired at her pottery and returned to the Mennonite Heritage Center for participants to pick up. Class fee is $55 ($50 members) plus a materials fee of $23 for a 7 redware plate and $30 for a 10 plate. Class participants can choose to sgraffito up to 3 plates (as time permits). For more information and to register, go to mhep.org or call Preregistration required. October 22, 9am to 3 pm. Bookbinding Workshop led by Bookbinder Ramon Townsend. Participants will take home a blank book they create in the workshop, using the methods that were employed from about the first century through the mid 19 th century. They will hand sew the book sections (called signatures); secure the hard covers; add a leather or cloth spine, and decorative paper, to the covers; and lay down the endpapers. Students will also be provided step-by-step written instructions they can take home. The workshop fee is $55 ($50 member) plus a $10 materials fee. For more information and to register, go to mhep.org or call Preregistration required. MHC Quarterly Volume 19 No. 3, Fall

12 NONPROFIT POSTAGE PAID LANSDALE, PA PERMIT NO. 502 MHC Quarterly 565 Yoder Rd Harleysville, PA You are invited Sunday, October 23, 2 to 4 pm. Reception for release of Christian s Hope by Ervin Stutzman. Ervin Stutzman will speak about his new book Christian s Hope. Signed copies will be available for purchasing. This is the third historical novel in his Return to Northkill trilogy. The first two titles are Jacob s Choice and Joseph s Dilemma. The program is open to the public. No registration needed. Sunday, November 6 at 4 pm. Hymn Sing at the Mennonite Heritage Center. Sunday, November 13, 2 to 4 pm. Preview Reception for Paper, Quill and Ink: A History of Towamencin Township: The Diaries of George Lukens, , Towamencin Township Quaker, Farmer, Schoolmaster & Abolitionist by Brian Hagey. Join us for the publication launch of this account of early nineteenth century life in Towamencin Township. Brian Hagey has painstakingly transcribed the known diaries of George Lukens and written a history of Towamencin Township to provide a context for the diaries. The program is open to the public. No registration requires. Refreshments will be served.